Archaeological naissance at Mapungubwe

Abstract

The centerpiece of this essay is a southern African board game known as mufuvha at the site of Mapungubwe (AD 1220–1290), an object that visitors closely identify with their relationships to the site but which has largely eluded the attentions of both archaeologists and recent publicity campaigns. In attempting to illuminate why this is so, I submit that archaeological practice at Mapungubwe and the political packaging of South African heritage have created narratives of Mapungubwe incongruous with experiences of local publics. Further, the mufuvha board is implicated in a process whereby archaeology, both as material and as social process, is vernacularized. I demonstrate that interrogating these alternative dialogues is essential to understanding how the archaeological past is constituted, in terms of both popular imaginaries and the creation (or omission) of archaeological assemblages.

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